Obnoxiously Quotable
by kevincong
Summary: If there's one thing that Anger hates more than the TripleDent gum commercial, it's putting Disney movie references where they don't belong! Join the hilarity as the emotions introduce Riley and Jordan to the world of Frozen.
1. Chapter 1

_A.N.: So, I published an initial draft of this story in dialogue format and apparently no one could understand what was going on. Please disregard all contents of the first version of_ Outta My Head _in favor of this more coherently organized background story._

 _TripleDent gum will make you smile  
_ _TripleDent gum, it lasts a while!_

"AAARRRRGGGGHHH!" screamed Anger, on the verge of losing his bottle again-as always. "One day! Whoever's doing that out there please, just let us go one stinking day without hearing that blasted commercial, before I lose it and blow up Long-Term Memory in flames!" He smashed the console with a folding chair to turn the memory off, nearly setting off a cuss word.

Normally, this reaction would have made Disgust laugh, given its alarmingly high frequency. She also knew he wasn't likely to follow through with the threat. Now that the puberty button had been triggered, the other emotions had developed somewhat of a fondness for watching Anger's outbursts, yet were careful not to overdo it as to get Riley in trouble. However, as Riley was humming the jingle at that very moment, the broccoli-haired emotion had suddenly gained awareness of the host doing the same in the shower and walking to school. No way would she allow that to happen in front of all of Riley's classmates!

"You've got a good point, Anger," she pointed out. "We didn't exactly make much of an impression on Day 1, so we shouldn't give them any more reasons to think we're weird."

"Oh, come on! We're doing a phenomenal job of keeping that stuff to ourselves!" answered Joy, the emotion seemingly to have been affected the least by the puberty button. Because of this, the others all had an inkling that their leader was responsible for the trigger even though no evidence could be produced either way, except for the fact that the alarm went off on the same afternoon after Joy claimed to have had a dream about accidentally doing so.

"And besides, who really knows about our problems with that commercial? Probably just Meg!" Joy was referring to Riley's best friend back in Minnesota. The gum commercial was one of the countless inside jokes that the two had shared over their ten-year relationship. As Joy recalled one of the corresponding memories, she couldn't help but notice that it was tinged just a little bit blue. The same had happened to nearly all of the memories of Riley and Meg goofing around after Joy and Sadness returned to Headquarters just in time to stop Riley from running back to Minnesota and hoping to crash at Meg's place for a while.

And speaking of which, Riley and Meg were at that moment having one of their semiweekly Skype chats. They had long since made up after Riley's initial adverse reaction to finding out about being replaced on the hockey team. Joy ruffled Sadness's hair fondly thinking about this, as the make-up would never have been possible without the chunky teardrop at the helm.

"Hey Riley, I think you should take a look at this!" quipped Meg as she sent over a YouTube link through the chat window. "It's only the best thing EVER!"

That got Riley's curiosity. "Whoa, what is it?" She had been aware of a song from the soundtrack of the latest Disney movie flipping the Internet upside down, but not being the kind to jump on every bandwagon, hadn't thought too much about what was going on.

But Meg just winked at her. "I won't spoil it for you, but it might help you with that gum commercial!"

The flame on Anger's head went out immediately.

"Did you guys hear that? We HAVE to do this!" All the other emotions murmured in agreement except Fear, who immediately started compiling a list of the worst possible reasons why a 4-minute video clip could gain so many millions of views and reposts in just a few short weeks.

"C'mon, Fear! What's the worst that can happen?" said Joy. "Nothing's catchier than the gum commercial as far as I know. It's not like we'd watch this and immediately start singing it in front of Mom and Dad for no reason, right?" She pressed a button prompting for Riley to respond.

"Sure!" giggled Riley. "If you say so. Jordan seems to want to see that movie too, I'll ask him tomorrow about it. Hey, listen, I have to study for a test right now, but same time tomorrow, yeah?"

This caught Meg a bit off guard. Riley had apparently never mentioned Jordan before. "Wait, now? Who's Jordan...ahhhh, I think I have a hunch! Is there anything else you'd like to tell me? Huuuuhhhhh, Riley?" Meg asked while pressing her face directly into the screen.

"Are you kidding me right now?" seethed Disgust. "She's doing that stupid Jangles impression again."

"Oh no, this cannot be good!" cried Fear. "She knows! She knows...wait, did you say JANGLES? Yaaaaaahhhhhh!111!"

Anger seized Fear by the throat and snapped his head into a button on the console. "Of course we're not saying, you dummy. We won't give her the pleasure of seeing us crack like an egg."

"Umm...just a friend of mine from class," muttered Riley. "Nothing much really."

"Ohhh, snap! You hesitated!" Meg got all googly-eyed like she usually did whenever the scoop du jour concerned a cute boy. All those mushy Netflix marathons can do very weird things to someone's psyche, Disgust observed while pushing another button.

"No, I didn't!" Riley hung up before her slightly nosy BFF could go on any further. "And that, my kittens, is the difference between good friends and _best friends_ ," quipped Disgust. To which a thoroughly bewildered Joy responded, "So which of the two are us and Meg?"

"Well, we knew she was probing us because she was talking in a way that she knows would creep the hell out of us. Know anyone else who fits that description? Yeah, of course you all do. My point exactly. Now, time to get back to work."

Sure, Riley did have an algebra test to study for, but one could guess that she was probably thinking about opening the link and texting Jordan straight away. Fear turned his attention from the possibility of a virus in the link to not being prepared for the test, but he was quickly overruled by the other emotions, who were dying to see what was inside the link.

"Let It Go...I wonder where this is headed," thought Joy. Before anybody realized it, three whole hours had passed!

At this point, Sadness looked out the window and noticed, "Um, guys...we haven't gotten any studying done...and I see something weird happening in Long Term..."

None of the emotions could figure out what was happening. It appeared as though there were a lot of memories both coming in and going out of Long Term Memory! There also appeared to be a new Personality Island forming just behind Fashion Island. "That's odd..." muttered Disgust. "I don't see this song forming a core memory all by itself."

"And it looks like there are a lot more people needed in Long Term than usual," added Sadness. "I thought this could only happen right before Riley falls asleep." Speaking of which...

"Riley, time to go to bed!" This was unmistakably Mom's voice. No way could Riley let Mom find out about this!

All the emotions screamed and started running like crazy and pressing buttons on the console, which causes Riley to quickly minimize her browser window. Unfortunately, the song was still playing throughout Headquarters, no doubt a very inconvenient distraction at this time. By now it should be clear that Riley had spent most of the three hours watching the video on repeat!

"So, how are your test preparations coming along?" asked Mom.

"Uh...eh...fine, I...guess!" stammered Riley, waving her cursor randomly around her desktop screen. The emotions couldn't figure out who was supposed to control this response, so they all simultaneously pressed a button at random.

Mom gives Riley a goodnight kiss on the cheek. "Well then, let's get some sleep for a big day tomorrow, alright?"

"Sure thing, mom! Love you!"

"Love you too sweetheart, good night!"

"Good night!"

The emotions could all exhale now. "That was a close one!" gasped Fear.

Meanwhile, no place inside Riley's mind was busier than Dream Productions. The Train of Thought had been running nonstop from various regions of Long Term Memory, no doubt carrying memories related to the viral video clip.

"Guys! Drop whatever you're doing right now!" barked the lead director to the fellow actors. She opened a box of the fresh memories and unrolled the new movie poster:

 _I am the Ice Queen_

 _Starring Riley Andersen_

"We've received a new agenda today, and it looks like we'll have to keep on running it for a while," she explained.

All the actors and the rest of the stage crew were thoroughly confused.

"So we spent seven hours today memorizing Fairy Dream Adventure lines for nothing?"

"Do you have any idea how long it'll take to tear down and rebuild the set for this?"

A handful tried to remain optimistic, though.

"On the other hand, it's about time we moved on from losing our teeth and going places with no pants on."

"Yeah, the producers have been really boring lately. They've been very strict about sticking to our routine since the day we got attacked by Jangles the clown."

"Don't panic, everybody," called the director through her megaphone. "You've all got the night off. We've drilled the backup squad with all the song lyrics, which most of them somehow picked up after only two or three run-throughs. There are several carpenters over at Imagination Land working on a life-sized cutout of the ice castle, and my sister has reached out to Disgust for tips on designing an ice dress. I just need to figure out who's going to play Queen Elsa, and we'll be good to go. But I expect you all to pay attention to at least the first couple of recordings and take notes, so that you will be prepared in the future. There are cupcakes and juice on the table behind you, feel free to help yourselves."


	2. Chapter 2

_To Korrasami88: Maybe, maybe not. Depends on which emotion's POV you are speaking from._

It was almost midnight, and inside Jordan's Headquarters, there seemed to be no semblance of order. Memory orbs, empty pizza boxes, and energy drink cans were strewn all over the floor while the emotions were skateboarding to heavy metal music. Except for Joy, who was sorting through a section of the memories. It was no surprise, then, that Jordan couldn't fall asleep no matter how much he tossed and turned.

A buzzing noise suddenly caught Joy's attention. "Turn off the music!" he ordered. "Our immediate attention is required."

"It's a text!" chirped Disgust. "Open it!"

 _1 new message from Riley Andersen_

 _"Hey, do you want to go see_ Frozen _this weekend?"_

Fear shrieked in terror and was about to press a button, only to be pinned to the floor by Joy and Anger.

"Seriously dude? You're gonna try that again?" Anger could tell from a mile away that Fear was trying to activate the Girl Alert.

"It's been more than a year, man! We'll never get anywhere if you don't learn your lesson," sighed Sadness. This was a reference to the day Jordan first bumped into Riley at the hockey rink. Nobody wanted to speak of that day, the first one in which it really felt like a bomb had gone off in Headquarters. They especially would not let Fear, who had been their unquestioned leader up to that point, forget how he spent a whole week curled up in fetal position afterwards, and were thankful that Riley hadn't started ignoring Jordan in favor of someone on the ASB.

"Don't you understand?" rasped Fear. "It's our job to ask Riley out to the movies, not the other way around! Nowhere in the manuals does it indicate even the possibility of something like this happening!"

"Yeah, but would we have picked _Frozen_? It's probably another one of those stupid princess movies like always," countered Disgust, who waved an arm to demonstrate only to accidentally bump into Joy's hand, which hit a button on the console.

And Jordan replied to the text, " _Great! Let me check with my parents, but I don't see any reason they'd say no._ "

"AAAAAUUUUGGGHHHH! Are you even kidding me right now?!" burst out Fear. "Great, now she probably hates us for that incident with her dad..."

The memory of Jordan and Mr. Andersen air-guitaring to AC/DC (yellow with two or three flecks of green) was recalled. The green accounted for Riley seeing everything and turning redder than an heirloom tomato.

"That's, like, only the 37th time we've embarrassed ourselves in front of her. And it wasn't the last time that day, either!" Joy cut off the previous memory, and replayed the scene in which Jordan and Riley crashed into each other on the ice, and Riley reached out her hand, offering to pull Jordan to his feet. The emotions had a long, contentious debate before deciding to accept, with the Girl Alert blaring in the background and Jordan's friends throwing weird stares at him.

And the same thing had also happened when Joy and Fear were arguing over whether to offer to split a large slushie with Riley, which they eventually did. Normally Anger would have cursed and ranted about the fact that it cost $6.99, but that time he simply watched in stunned silence as Jordan picked up the tab himself. Surely Riley was also aware of this absolute rip-off!

"We're going, and that's final!" said Joy sternly. "If we're lucky, Riley will lean into us when the prince kisses the princess."

Fear groaned in defeat. It seemed like he always got the short end of the stick when it came to Riley-related matters.

* * *

 _The snow glows white on the mountain tonight  
Not a footprint to be seen-_

It was two weeks after Riley and Jordan had watched _Frozen_. The sound of crackling flames followed by a screech of raw aggravation pierced throughout Riley's Headquarters. "AAAAARRRGRGHGH! Make it stop! MAKE IT STOP!"

Anger finally had to admit that he would have preferred to have the Tripledent Gum commercial back, instead of having to listen to this new memory at least once per hour. Most of his issues with the gum were related to how he had to hear it whenever he tried to recall a memory, but this...this was absolute torture. Not only would the lyrics appear as background music to every button that anybody pressed, but they also did so completely out of order.

"So what actually happened to the gum jingle?" asked Sadness.

"Yeah, I heard that Bobby and Paula got such an ear-splitting headache from you-know-what that they accidentally threw it into the Memory Dump," huffed Anger. "And now they can't get enough of sending up THIS. And before you ask, we've tried watching the gum commercial several times just to bring it back."

"Oh, like that went about as well as we expected it to," scoffed Disgust. "Wait, if we're all in Riley's head, how would they get a headache?"

Anger stared at her with a confused expression.

"But that aside," she continued, "let's recap what that link has done to us so far. We've spent nearly $20 to get the entire soundtrack off iTunes. We might be stuck with college prep classes again next year, but that's an issue for another day." Riley was quick to take advantage of the fact that her parents had not set up purchase control on her phone. (It's on now, though.) Then she spent so much time listening to it that she didn't study enough for her algebra test, which included a section that was put in specifically to determine a student's qualification for the honors track. Not surprisingly, she bombed it and has been trying to keep it a secret from her parents since. But given the way she always plugs in the soundtrack in her parents' car and refuses to let them listen to anything else, she knew it wouldn't be long before the extent of her obsession was discovered. It was over this very fact that Fear seemed ready to have another convulsion.

"But we know what we're going to be for next Halloween, right?" quipped Joy. Riley now desperately wanted an Elsa dress for Christmas-another reason why she had to keep her pre-algebra grade a secret!

"It's a shame that this came out right after Halloween," moaned Sadness, fully aware of how many other little kids would be going around next year in Elsa dresses. She knew that Riley used to love costumes that stood out from the crowd and teared up a little over the thought of the ongoing change in personality. Some of Riley's friends were already making wagers on how many such costumes would come to their doors then.

In fact, part of "Let It Go" had actually become a core memory that powered Fandom Island, which consisted of a Scandinavian-style castle that largely resembled the one in _Frozen_. There was a big wedding taking place and teal snowflakes of various shapes were perpetually falling-no doubt, a homage to Riley's two favorite pairings, Kristoff x Anna and Hans x Elsa. The latter was Disgust's idea. Sure, everyone else hated that the 13th prince of the Southern Isles was nothing like who he appeared to be, but he was _smoking hot_ and Sadness wanted to believe he could change if he'd somehow get past the way a handful of his brothers once pretended he was invisible.

Then Fear recalled an incident that took place during a recent hockey practice. Mom was repeatedly reminding Riley to put on an extra coat, to which the response was...

"...the cold never bothered me anyway," all the emotions deadpanned on cue, as if they hadn't heard it out of memory recall enough times already. Of course, Riley would have the same explanation for eating frozen yogurt or drinking a slushie on a rainy day.

This was not an experience Fear wanted to repeat after they almost made Riley catch a cold, if not for a heaping bowl of Mom's chicken soup. Sadness was the only one to pay thorough attention to Mom's reaction to Riley's new quirks and was feeling guilty about making her stress so much over the host's well-being.

But now, it was Joy's turn to recall the brightest memory of them all...

 _BEGIN FLASHBACK: EARLIER THAT DAY_

Today was the day before the big rivalry hockey match-one that would be played at SAP Center in San Jose, no less, and followed by the Sharks hosting the Wild. The players each got a 4-pack of tickets; Riley, naturally, gave the others to Jordan and her parents despite their opposite allegiances.

There had been a big pep rally during the lunch period with various cheer routines and apparel giveaways, and Jordan's rock band was one of those chosen to perform a spirit song. But, there was a reason Jordan had to convince his bandmates, then the school's athletic director, that they would go last. He would put up with a torrent of ribbing to make his case, as some of the other guys had a hunch as to what was happening.

And right after their performance, the other band members stepped off the stage to hand Jordan the mic. "So, um...I have a...special message of support, if you will...that I'd like to share with one of the players." Jordan had rehearsed his speech quite a bit, so his emotions were surprised that they could only make two or three words come out each time they pressed a button. In particular, Fear's hands were shaking with sweat and the others had to keep a close hold on him to make sure that the infamous alert wasn't triggered at such a critical moment.

"I still remember the day I watched you play for the first time. You took the words...right out of my mouth."

"We do NOT speak of that incident, you moron!" Disgust slugged Fear in the shoulder. "Ever!"

"And since then, it's been the craziest journey of my life. You are not only the fastest skater I've ever met, you've also been my best friend. It's always a quick text or a warm hug from you that makes every day a sunny day." (It just so happened that today was nearly as overcast as the day Riley tried to...never mind.)

Anger did a facepalm. "Joy, stop this train of sentiment before we start crying!"

"You are a beautiful person...inside and out..."

"Oh, no!" moaned Sadness. Jordan was stammering again. "We've forgotten it again! We'll never get it out at this rate."

"...and there's no one else worth melting for as much as you. So, can I say something crazy?"

Jordan's lead singer and the goalie on the hockey team then emerge with a stuffed Olaf, a bouquet of multicolored roses, and a collage of Jordan and Riley.

In Riley's mind, Joy shrieked like a rabid fangirl on a sugar high. "EEEEEE! STAND BACK EVERYONE, I'VE GOT THIS!"

"Riley, will you go to winter formal w-"

In a state of near delirium, Joy pressed over 20 buttons in rapid succession, which caused Riley to leap out of her seat and hug-no, body check-Jordan so as to nearly throw both of them to the floor. No need to wait for Jordan to finish speaking here! A sound effect similar to the Wild's goal horn blared throughout the rest of Headquarters. This was probably the first time, too, that Fear hugged Anger without getting choked or thrown against a wall in retaliation. Sadness was crying (tears of joy, of course!) but Disgust did not seem to mind the tears getting all over her. When Riley was back on her feet, Joy simply stared at the screen in shock and awe. Some of Riley's teammates were blowing kisses at her and crowd was giving them a standing ovation!

"I can see it now!" she squealed, taking note of representatives from the yearbook and school newspaper snapping pictures from all angles. "We're going to win Cutest Couple this year for sure!"

Unfortunately, she accidentally hit two buttons in the wrong order, which caused Riley to say, "I could totally kiss you right now!"

"What is your problem, Joy?" screeched Disgust. "In front of the whole school? Have you lost your mind?"

Riley suddenly realized what she had just done. "I mean, I'd like to. May I? We me? I mean, may we? Wait, what?"

Fear yelped in terror. He envisioned Jordan recoiling like a turtle from Riley's sudden passionate outburst and Disgust flying completely over the edge. "Because I love you, Joy," he whispered hurriedly, "I suggest you run."

Nobody else had time to react before they received Jordan's response. Apparently, he thought the whole thing was staged!

" _We may."_

Disgust facepalmed in frustration. "Yep, that's who we've become now. This is worse than sharing carrots with a reindeer."

"Don't be silly!" giggled the pixie star. "We can't lose our minds if we're permanently stuck inside one!"

 _END FLASHBACK_


	3. Chapter 3

_A.N.: Riley's emotions' favorite Frozen characters are as follows: Joy-Anna, Sadness-Elsa, Anger-Kristoff, Disgust-Hans (don't ask me why), Fear-Olaf_

It must have surprised Joy a little bit, then, that Disgust was back to being her usual moody self only a few hours after the initial euphoria had worn off. Maybe it had something to do with Joy celebrating by cranking up the accordion as though _she_ was in Jordan's band too.

"'Riley is worth melting for?'" spat the vegetable emotion. "Come on, show some creativity! There's been at least 5 other girls asked out like that. We've become the very same people that we used to despise!" No kidding! This time last year, seeing a couple holding hands-or heaven forbid, making out-by their lockers was guaranteed to send Disgust on a pilgrimage to the porcelain gods. And don't even get her started on having matching Kristoff and Anna iPhone cases. When Riley had seen a similar picture posted on Instagram, Disgust immediately wrote it off as "basic" and left all the other emotions in shock-but now, a little vindication considering who would be next to post those pictures.

"So, has Riley really picking up on this jargon in addition to all the curse words at Anger's disposal?" asked Joy quizzically.

"As long as I'm here," she scoffed, recalling the memory of Mom's pesky inquiries on going skating with Jordan for the first time, "I'll make sure Mom and Dad never try to use that kind of language in front of us."

"Hey! At least he didn't try the usual 'I know this is cheesy' getup with the discounted broccoli pizza!" beamed Joy. Any student in Riley's school district could get 25% off a pizza with the ingredients arranged in a way that signaled asking someone to a dance.

"Oh, are you talking about Yeast of Eden again?" replied the brick. "Don't remind me. A dude would have to be really desperate to ask someone out like that. But knowing that there are plenty of thirsty betas in this school-"

"And probably at least one more now that _we've_ been claimed," interjected Disgust haughtily with a flip of her hair.

"-so now they've got to resort to that kind of crap just to not go bankrupt. They deserved it."

Joy nodded in agreement. "Yeah, broccoli pizza is a rough business to be in right now. If anything, they really could use a new cashier."

"Let's show Dad the video! Maybe this'll finally get him off Jordan's case for a while," added Fear.

"Hey, speaking of Dad, why don't we ask him to take us to the sing-along edition when it's out?" suggested Joy.

A memory suddenly gets recalled. Predictably, it's one of Elsa recreating Olaf.

All emotions voice their agreement with Joy's proposal and excitedly press corresponding buttons on console, except Anger, who stomps away with a 6-foot flame in his head, slams his bedroom door shut, and barricades it with a chair. He proceeds to phone "room service" to request a fresh supply of aspirins.

"Her sister begged and pleaded for over 13 years to build a snowman," mumbled Sadness before faceplanting on the console, "and she builds one without her. That's sad."

"Hey, Dad," Riley calls to Dad downstairs, "can we go see-"

"Yeah, sure. No problem!" Dad responded almost on autopilot. He did not have to wait for Riley to finish speaking to know what the request was, given that she was by now humming "Let It Go" in the shower, at the dinner table, and to and from school. Every single day. It was really starting to get on his nerves.

"Kill me now..." groaned his Anger.

"Bill?" Mom needed only to take one look to realize what had just happened. She could only shake her head fondly at what the fandom had done to her daughter and prayed that it would only be a phase.

* * *

The next day was another great one for Riley. She scored a hat trick that included the overtime winner, and got to watch the Wild shut out the Sharks. But even better was that Jordan showed no apparent disappointment in his team's listless performance.

"For the first time in forever, we beat you guys here! Guess I must be the lucky charm," smirked Riley.

"Oh, don't worry," retorted Jordan. "We won't be this bad at home for long." Jordan's Fear was making a list of reasons why the Sharks should be concerned about their upcoming road trip, but none of his other emotions were paying any attention. They were getting lost in the way Riley's eyes lit up and her grin widened after her teams completed the doubleheader sweep. Most other people considered rooting for a rival sports team to be a deal-breaker, but Jordan and Riley weren't most people. They enjoyed their occasional trash talk, but Jordan thought it wise to let Riley win for one night. She was exhausted, and she had certainly earned it.

The couple walked out of the arena hand in hand while several of their friends, who had thrown their hats onto the ice and gotten them back with Riley's autograph, cooed about how cute they were together. Eventually the Andersen parents tried to get in on the act. Riley turned their way and immediately did a double take.

"So...this is awkward," she whispered to Jordan, who took her hands in his. "Not that you're awkward, it's just that we're...I'm awkward. You're gorgeous. Wait, what?" Riley's parents struggled to hold back their laughter, while one of her emotions immediately pressed a button to signal disapproval and sprinted for the toilet. For all that trouble, she earned a peck on the cheek from Jordan.

Despite the wear and tear her body took, Riley simply could not fall asleep that night, even though all of her emotions save for Joy already had. That is, until a couple of mind workers down in Long-Term Memory decided to mess around again.

"You were right, Paula! Tripledent Gum is so last year!" Bobby had once again found a lyric snippet.

"You bet, Bobby! We'll keep this one forever, and this time, we mean it. I can't wait until Riley has her own daughter, by then she could be hearing this stuff 24/7!"

"Better yet," added Bobby, "I heard they'll make a sequel in four or five years. Even more material to tie HQ up in knots!"

"Oh boy, this is going to be so much fun!" they both guffawed while sending up the memory to HQ yet another time.

 _My power flurries through the air into the ground  
My soul is spiraling in frozen fractals all around_

"Shut up!" hissed Disgust, rubbing her eyes annoyedly. "We're trying to sleep here!" She started clambering out of her room, wondering why on earth was Joy sitting in front of the console in a trance.

"One more time and I'll send you spiraling into the Memory Dump..." growled Anger, who was also fiddling with the curse word stash.

"Hello, earth to Joy?" Disgust walked in front of the screen and waved her arms. "What are you doing? Dream Productions have been given tonight off. You might as well as..."

Then she noticed that Joy had made a slideshow dedicated especially to Riley and Jordan-from the day they first bumped, to their first skate replete with Mom and Dad's adorkable antics, to drying each other's tears during the climax of _Frozen_ , and finally to the events of the past 24 hours. Many of the scenes were recognizable from the collage Riley received yesterday, which was proudly hung above her desk between two hockey posters.

"You know, Disgust," sighed Joy dreamily, "I could watch this forever."

"Even this one?" The slideshow was paused on a picture taken at the Santa Cruz boardwalk of Riley struggling to bite into a candy apple. Disgust hated that picture, especially after Jordan posted it on Facebook and got 46 likes. Riley got another 16 (one from Meg) for her comment: "F. M. L."

"Not exactly a picture of sophisticated grace, if you ask me."

 _BEGIN FLASHBACK_

 _Joy: "I don't understand what you mean! Likes are good. Comments are good. That means they think we're cute!"  
Disgust: "Seriously? As if it wasn't bad enough that we never look normal in our pictures, it took forever to get the gunk out of our teeth, and worst of all, Mom keeps saying THAT whenever the smallest thing goes wrong." (example when washing dishes after dinner: "Hey Riley, FML, I didn't know we owned, like, 8,000 salad plates.") _

_END FLASHBACK_

"Sure is." Joy pulled Disgust into a bear hug. "San Francisco is a wonderful place to be, don't you think?"

"Joy-"

"We've got glorious weather, delicious food..."

"Joy-"

"...great friends, a killer hockey team..."

If Fear had heard this, he would have added something like, "We're not failing school, there hasn't been an earthquake, and we haven't seen any hippies."

"Joy-"

"...and most of all, the BEST BOYFRIEND IN THE WORLD WHO WILL NEVER SHUT US OUT NO MATTER WHAT!"

At this point, Joy accidentally triggered the memory recall again. It contained the same video footage as in the movie, but dubbed in Riley's and Jordan's voices instead.

 _I mean, it's crazy!  
What?  
We finish each other's-  
Sandwiches!  
That's what I was gonna say!  
I've never met someone-  
Who thinks so much like me!_

"That's it, I'm done," grimaced Disgust as she broke herself free and went back up to her room. "Let's just let Riley go to sleep now. And lay off on the coffee and dopamine candy next time, will ya?"

But Joy just continued to stare at the screen with another deep sigh. She was on cloud nine, and didn't plan on coming down anytime soon.

"I have never been happier in my life...and that's really saying something."

* * *

 _"You know you're in love  
when you can't fall asleep  
because reality is finally  
_ _better than your dreams."_

 _-Dr. Seuss_


	4. Chapter 4

_A.N.: Find a Spongebob reference!_

It was the first day of summer vacation, and Riley had woken up at 5:30 am today. Joy was bouncing around HQ playing "In Summer" on her accordion, while everyone else was howling in agony and stuffing pillows over their faces.

"Yoohoo! It's summer! Hello beaches! Hello Giants games! Hello Disneyland! Hello blowout sales at the mall! Aren't you all so EXCITED?!"

"Seriously, Joy?" grumbled Anger. "We should all sleep in until noon today, especially that you've been playing that thing nonstop the last three weeks..."

"Whaaaat? I can't do that! The sky's awake, so I'm awake! Besides, Riley needed some way to stay motivated for final exams. Let's head to the rink and get some reps in!" She was referring to the training regimen that Coach Sommer had sent to all the players. It was very important for Riley to be ready for tryouts in the first two weeks of the new school year. For added effect, she turned on the memory of Olaf with his body parts in the wrong order, subtitled "Man, am I out of shape."

Disgust sprang out of bed at once and shut the memory off, shooting a dagger glare at Joy. "Nuh-uh. No way. We'll get all sweaty and gross within half an hour."

"It's not so warm outside yet, and best of all, we've got the whole place TO OURSELVES!" Joy emphasized the last part in a singsong voice. "It'll be just like back in Minnesota. Nobody's out here this early on the first day of summer anyways!"

"Fine," huffed Disgust. "But if our hair gets messed up, someone will pay."

Riley quickly got dressed and packed a protein bar and a bottle of water when she met her mom in the kitchen.

"I'm going for a quick morning jog," said Mom. "I see that you'd like to come with me?"

"That sounds wonderful! I'm headed down to the rink. Gotta stay sharp for the upcoming season, know what I mean?"

"Of course I do, monkey!" Mom kissed Riley on the forehead. "That's the dedication I want to see."

They take the scenic route to the hockey rink as Riley excitedly outlined to Mom her summer plans, including staying in touch with Meg and Jordan. Or as she described it with the help of her memory recall system, "No right, no wrong, no rules for me-I'm FREE!"

"I'll be heading home now," Mom said when they arrived at the rink. "Try to be back before 8:00, so that we can all have a nice breakfast together, OK?"

"Will do, Mom!" They exchange the monkey noises before Mom starts on her way home. Disgust made a mental note to restrict such occurrences in the future in case it occurs in front of one of Riley's classmates-or worse, Jordan.

Riley put on her helmet, shoulder and knee pads, and laced up her skates. But when she stepped onto the ice, she noticed a familiar advertisement sign on the sideboards: _TripleDent Gum, Now with Longer Lasting Flavor!_

"Um, has that sign been here before?" asked Fear.

"I don't know...why don't we call Coach Sommer?" suggested Joy.

As it turns out, the hockey league had recently signed a lengthy sponsor deal with Buy n Large and they had to assign a product to their new clients. Only a few days ago had the product been agreed on: the popular chewing gum.

"By the way, Andersen," added the coach, "they had some PR scouts at the game at the Shark Tank back a while ago-you know, the one where you scored the overtime winner. And they're working with us to make a new commercial. They just need someone who can sing their little refrain."

"Refrain? What's that?" asked Fear. He turned around to see Anger fuming while holding a newspaper that said, "BIG BREAK IMMINENT THRU INFAMOUS GUM COMMERCIAL." Unsure what to do, the purple emotion accidentally hit the recall button.

 _TripleDent gum will make you smile  
TripleDent gum, it lasts a while!_

 _"_ What happened? I thought we got rid of that piece of junk!" demanded Anger. Somehow, no one had noticed Joy press a button that made Riley say, "So you want me to-"

"Yes, they told me their first choice is you," replied the coach. "You're a force to be reckoned with on the ice (second in the league in goals), and a voice and smile like yours could really leave an impression on all our loyal viewers."

"Yuck, no!" Disgust made one of her classic 'not-amused' faces. "We cannot have that corny jingle attached to our name for years and years. The cool kids will never let us hear the end of it!"

Fear immediately grabbed a paper bag and started breathing and whispering heavily into it. He didn't last very long, however, before losing consciousness, either from hyperventilation or a gut punch from Anger. "Conceal, don't feel, put on a show. Make one wrong move and everyone will-AAAAAAAHHH!"

"Come on, broccoli! Lighten up!" Joy beamed. "We were an All-Star in our first year here, so people already know who we are. And now we're being offered a major role as a market brand ambassador too? Why think twice? It's time to see what we can do, to test the limits and break through!"

"Uggghhhh, fine..." muttered Disgust. "And I can't tell you enough times not to call me that."

"Umm, Anger? I thought you still hated that commercial, aren't you going to say something?" inquired Sadness.

"Nope, my nerves are absolutely shot from seven months of Frozen. Worst part about it is that I can't stop Riley-or any of you guys, for that matter-from quoting it at inopportune times. I've already lost track of how many I've heard this morning alone. How bad can things be?"

He got his answer when the commercial director had to ask Riley to sing the jingle from start to finish several times until the entire cast could agree on a version. All the emotions were trying to recall the memory repeatedly, to help Riley get the enunciation and pitch just right. Well, except Anger. Joy wanted to get through the shooting without anything set on fire, so they sent the brick over to the Friendly Argument section of Friendship Island for the time being.

"If we ever fight with Jordan again, we'll need your help to make sure we communicate our case clearly and effectively," she explained.

"Grrrr...fine. We probably will. He's kind of a fixer-upper." The others pointed at Anger and laughed. "WHAT!"

By the time Anger returned, all the other emotions were lying on a couch, watching the NHL free agent signing frenzy on tape delay.

"I swear to god we'll be hearing that thing in our dreams..." moaned Disgust.

* * *

On a crisp mid-October evening immediately before the homecoming performance, Riley and several of her friends were gathered at Jordan's house preparing last-minute decorations. There was a hockey game on, so of course some people wanted to watch. But most of them were only paying attention to the commercials, as they were looking for one in particular-and it would come up during the second mandatory TV timeout.

In the commercial (which was somehow developed using only voice actors and animation), one of the Foghorns defensemen was asking two of her teammates if she was being avoided all day because she was ugly. But Riley (wearing a sweater with the letter C on it) knows that this person actually had a superstition of eating a "pregame sundae", which was merely nachos topped with ketchup, onions, and peanuts. So she dances into the locker room singing the notorious jingle and offers a stick of gum to the offender. Then the entire team puts their hands in a huddle with Riley leading: "One, two, three, TRIPLEDENT GUM!" and skate out onto the ice as a buzzer goes off in the background. All of Riley's friends were in stitches!

"O...M...G...that was so priceless, Riley..."

"Slay Riley slay!"

"Riley, this is you and me in a nutshell." This was not spoken by the "superstitious" defenseman.

"See, Disgust? Not as bad as it sounds!" grinned Joy.

"I guess I never knew what we were capable of," replied Disgust. "Wait...ketchup? Onions? Peanuts? Together? HEEEEELLLLLLP!"

The next day, Riley was having trouble staying awake in class due to staying up all night with the homecoming decorations. Disgust was bedridden from the trauma of the aforementioned abominable concoction, and the sight of Riley with wrinkled clothes and undone hair would have hindered her recovery even worse. Anger tried to plug in several different daydreams, but to his horror, they could only play one thing.

It was the gum commercial. Only this time, Riley was singing. The memory was vying to become the new core memory for Hockey Island and would take forever to get rid of!

"Back to square one..." he grumbled as the embers started to glow on his head. In his frustration, he stomped up to his room trying to catch just an hour of sleep, for he was not used to Riley pulling all-nighters.

Joy suffered no such ill effects, however. She remembered that Riley had taken an extra candy bar from Jordan's place. As she was making Riley unwrap it, Sadness suddenly arrived. "Hey Joy, what's that amazing smell?"

Joy pressed a button that made Riley take a whiff, allowing the only two fully functional emotions to do the same. "Chocolate!" they sighed in unison.

Then she walked up to Anger's closed bedroom door, did her secret knock, and peeked underneath the crack.

"Anger? Do you want to build a snowman? C'mon, let's go and plaaaaaayyy!" she sang naughtily.

In no mood to hear the rest, Anger shouted back, "There's no snow on the ground, nitwit!"

Joy pressed her lips against the keyhole. "It doesn't have to be a snowman..."

She was only greeted by the sound of erupting flames followed by a thunderous bellow of "GO AWAY, JOY!"

"OK, bye..." Joy flopped onto the floor and pretended to skulk away like Sadness would. But she made a mental note to herself, that if Anger ever took a nap on the job again, she would just have to change his alarm clock ringtone. This was guaranteed to work, right?


End file.
